Director's Column: The Benefits of Becoming a Member School

The mission of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA) is to direct and regulate the education-based athletics of our member schools while promoting fair and equitable competition that’s in the best interest of the student-athletes.

While we exist mainly to regulate education-based (or interscholastic) sports, we provide our member institutions with many programs and events that benefit the schools themselves as wells as the student-athletes and fans of high school sports in Louisiana.

The LHSAA was founded in 1920 by a group of Louisiana high school principals, and since that time, we have grown to include approximately 389 schools, which make up seven total classifications (5A, 4A, 3A, 2A, 1A, B and C). We regulate more than 83,000 student-athletes, 8,000 coaches and 5,000 officials each year.

By becoming an LHSAA member school, organizations are able to compete for more than 100 championships in 27 championship sports – 14 for boys and 13 for girls. In addition, member institutions can participate in our “Beyond the Game” sportsmanship program for student-athletes, coaches and administrators. Student-athletes at our member school institutions can also participate in our essay contest, which awards a student-athlete with a $500 prize for his or her winning essay. Students at LHSAA member schools who excel as student-athletes can also apply for many academic scholarships that our organization, in collaboration with our many corporate sponsors, funds.

Even though we are run by a full-time staff and governed by an executive committee board, the LHSAA is made up of the member school principals. And, ultimately, it’s the member school principals who vote on and adopt the rules that make up our Constitution and handbook as well as other regulations.

Future endeavors include providing grant funds to benefit member schools that participate in Louisiana education-based athletics through our Association’s Foundation. Through our Foundation, we plan to fund many useful programs and initiatives and offer even more academic scholarships for those student-athletes who stand out. For this 2012-13 school year, the LHSAA, with our many sponsors, will fund 24 individual scholarships that total more than $31,000.

I’d like to take this time to thank those students and staff who represent our 389 member schools.We look forward to serving you in the years to come, and we also look forward to welcoming more schools who decide to become members of our Association in the near future. The more members that make up our Association, the more programs and events we are able to offer student-athletes of our great state!

For more information about the LHSAA or to find out more about becoming a member of our Association, please visit our website at www.LHSAA.org.